[647] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Perhaps dismissal of packet radio in the classroom is unwarranted
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Brian Lloyd)
Mon Apr 29 19:37:46 1991
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 91 16:31:39 PDT
From: Brian Lloyd <brian@napa.telebit.COM>
To: dennis@utcs.utoronto.ca
Cc: bill@tuatara.uofs.edu, com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: Dennis Ferguson's message of Sun, 28 Apr 1991 19:08:38 -0400 <91Apr28.190848edt.18458@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Reply-To: brian@napa.telebit.COM
I may be missing some context, but why is 900 MHz Spread Spectrum
inappropriate? I think that spread spectrum digital radio is quite
attractive technology for the application. It is robust and noise
immune, and this is an important property in a metropolitan area
if installations are uncoordinated and are possibly not of high
quality.
Well, it is not noise immune, just more tolerant of noise. Also,
license-free use on 900 MHz is on a non-interference basis. Amateur
radio has higher priority (and higher permitted power levels -- 30 dbw
vs 3 dbw) and they are likely to stomp all over your signal. Bottom
line is that you are going to lose if you try to go long haul. What
business or educational user is going to put up with, "well your
equipment will work again when I am done chatting with my buddy down
the street."
You can build both short-distance multiple access and longer
distance point-to-point connections with the same hardware. It provides
a certain degree of security (insufficient, but a start). You can run
several systems in close proximity in the same frequency allocation
with minimal interference between them. It minimizes the cost of the
RF components, and puts the complexity in silicon where it is sure
to get cheaper.
Possibly it will get cheaper. See my above rantings (:-) re frequency
usage.
Brian
